Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law
Adult Swim | picture_format = 4:3 SDTV | first_aired = September 2, 2001 | last_aired = | num_seasons = 4 | num_episodes = 39 | list_episodes = List of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episodes | related = Space Ghost Coast to Coast | website = http://www.adultswim.com/shows/harvey-birdman-attorney-at-law/index.html }} Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law (sometimes referred to simply as Harvey Birdman) is an American animated television series comedy created by Williams Street and produced by Cartoon Network Studios that aired on Cartoon Network during its Adult Swim late night programming block. The series' pilot first aired in 2000 before the Adult Swim block was officially incepted, and later became a series in 2001. The show revolves around the activity of the Sebben & Sebben law firm, which is staffed mainly by superheroes and other characters who had originally been featured in 1960s-era Hanna-Barbera cartoons, most notably Birdman and the Galaxy Trio. The series had its final episode on July 22, 2007. The show also screens in Australia on The Comedy Channel as part of the channel's Adult Swim block of programming. Premise Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law features ex-superhero Harvey T. Birdman of Birdman and the Galaxy Trio as an attorney working for a law firm alongside other cartoon stars from 1960s and 1970s Hanna-Barbera cartoon series. Similarly, Harvey's clients are also primarily composed of characters taken from Hanna-Barbera cartoon series of the same era. Many of Birdman's nemeses featured in his former cartoon series also became attorneys, often representing the opposing side of a given case. Harvey usually fills the role of a criminal defense attorney, though he will act as a civil litigator or other such job when the plot calls for it. The series uses a surrealist style of comedy, featuring characters, objects, and jokes that are briefly introduced and rarely (if ever) referenced thereafter. Also, because the series relies heavily on Popular culture references to classic television animation, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law constantly delves into parody, even featuring clips of these series or specially-created scenes which mimic the distinctive style of the animation being referenced.Harvey Birdman Volume 1 DVD commentary for episode 1 Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law is the first Williams Street cartoon to maintain continuity through the entire series. Various episodes reference Harvey's (or another superhero's) former crimefighting career. The episode "Turner Classic Birdman" even serves to bridge the gap between Birdman and the Galaxy Trio and Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. Instead of rigid plot structure, much of the humor is derived from the fact that superheroes and supervillains are given more realistic and human qualities, such as a mad scientist named Dr. Myron Reducto, who becomes a paranoid prosecutor. Also, several of the plots revolve around the popular myths about classic Hanna-Barbera characters, such as Shaggy and Scooby-Doo being stoners. Production Although the first season was animated using traditional cel animation, the remaining seasons were animated using Adobe Flash. The reason for the switch was that the animation studio was having difficulty maintaining the fast pace of the show, and thus the production of episodes slowed down due to constant retakes. By animating the series at Turner Studios in Atlanta, Georgia with Flash, not only were problems corrected faster, but production costs were much lower. Some animation was also done for the show at Bardel Entertainment in Vancouver, British Columbia. Characters Episodes Voice cast Guest appearances * Paul Adelstein – Murro the Marauder * Jack Angel – General (in "Very Personal Injury"), Drunk Man (in "Very Personal Injury") * Dee Bradley Baker – Jonny Quest, Lizard Man * Michael Bell – Zan * Jeff Bergman – George Jetson (in "Shaggy Busted") * Mary Birdsong – Tana * Lewis Black – Elliott The Deadly Duplicator * Steven Blum – Yakky Doodle (in "Gone Efficien...t" and "Identity Theft"), Clamhead * Omid Djalili - The Perfectionist * Bill Farmer – Secret Squirrel * Keith Ferguson – Bill Ken Sebben * Nika Futterman – Debbie (in "High Speed Buggy Chase") * Mark Hamill – Ricochet Rabbit * Toby Huss – Ernie Devlin, Shado * Scott Innes – Shaggy Rogers, Scooby-Doo, Scrappy-Doo * David Kaye - Officer * Tom Kenny – Boo-Boo Bear, Elroy Jetson, Top Cat, Choo Choo * David Koechner – Cubby McQuilken * Steve Landesberg - Dr. Quincy, Bailiff (in "The Dabba Don") * David Lodge - * Tress MacNeille – Wilma Flintstone, Pebbles Flintstone * Diane Michelle – Jane Jetson, Orbity * Larry Morris - Harvey Birdman in live action segments (numerous episodes) * Laraine Newman – Sybil Schussler * Rob Paulsen – Baba Looey * Thom Pinto – Race Bannon * Doug Preis – Thundarr, Beegle Beagle * Kevin Michael Richardson – Barney Rubble * Joseph Seal - Bobby * André Sogliuzzo – Dynomutt * B. J. Ward – Velma Dinkley * Frank Welker - Fred Jones, Jabberjaw, Biff * Billy West – Dr. Zin * Wally Wingert – Hadji, Mr. Harry Twiddles, Moby Dick, George Jetson (in "Back to the Present"), Astro Reception Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law was named the 91st best animated series by IGN. They compared it to Space Ghost Coast to Coast, a show that is also based on an old Hanna Barbera cartoon, and called it a clever show. DVD releases Each DVD is in the shape of a law book. Each season's box art is nearly identical, and the only change for each season is the background color (Volume 1 is brown-purple, Volume 2 is blue, and Volume 3 is black). The small picture next to the title and the title itself also appear different. Music The theme song is an edited version of the song "Slow Moody Blues" written by Reg Tilsley. Other notable songs used in the show include Charlie Steinman's "It Is Such A Good Night" (AKA "Scoobidoo Love") and a lyricless version of Gianni Morandi's "La Mia Mania" (AKA "Okay Maria"). Video game A video game based on the series has been released for the PlayStation 2, Wii and PlayStation Portable video game consoles. It was developed by High Voltage Software and published by Capcom, with gameplay mechanics similar to Capcom's Ace Attorney series. It was released on January 8, 2008. References External links * * Online Channel Australia * * * [http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/365/365710p1.html IGN's 10 Questions: Harvey Birdman] * [http://dvd.ign.com/articles/605/605194p1.html IGN's review of the DVD set, Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, Volume 1] Category:2000 American television series debuts Category:2001 American television series debuts Category:2000s American animated television series Category:2007 American television series endings Category:American animated television series Category:English-language television programming Category:Williams Street Studios series and characters Category:Living TV Group channels Category:Television series with live action and animation Category:Crossover animation Category:Adult Swim original programs Category:Flash cartoons